March 4th, 2010

Musicians Doing Things Differently – Holcombe Waller and Ume

Holcombe Waller Kickstarter Pampelmoose Fight

I recently posted to this blog, an interview I did with SXSW Magazine – SXSWorld which resulted in a very interesting comments thread, wherein I was called out by a couple of people over what they perceived as a lack of new ideas from me regarding musicians and their utilization of the web. I don’t mind being challenged over my ideas, after all this is a forum for discussing ideas and what I learn here can be applied, not only to more posts on the subject, but also to my panel at SXSW this year. The only problem I had with the comments is that I couldn’t help but feel I was being asked to provide tactics that might lead to success for some musicians on the web, whereas I was attempting to discuss web strategy – two very different approaches basically.

Fortunately Justin Spohn, one of my business partners here at Fight, bailed me out by saying this – “The first thing I think it’s important to note is that at Fight, we almost never have blanket recommendations for anything when it comes to tactical recommendations, and I fear that may be part of the frustration I’m hearing.” In other words, what’s your strategy and can we help you with that?

And it is the frustrations of musicians that I would love to help alleviate. Unfortunately I doubt that I can assuage all musician’s frustrations along with their doubts about embracing a new way of thinking about selling music. As Justin says above, we are not in the business of simply providing tactics, but I did think it may be useful to offer up some info of how a couple of bands I admire are working their way through the new paradigm.

Last week I met with the Portland-by-way-of-San Francisco musician and artist, Holcombe Waller. We had a lively discussion about the challenges that all creative people in the arts now face, the least of which being one’s ability to gain attention and traction in a world of high-speed communications and online hyperactivity.

So what is Holcombe up to? Well, he’s not in the least bit perturbed by the ever changing cultural landscape. He has set out to win, and along the way he’d like to make a difference and also be brilliant. We discussed the 1000 True Fans model which Holcombe has essentially embraced. We agreed on many things so I’m not going to go into detail about his hard work, [we definitely agreed that hard work and talent are two very important prerequisites for achieving success these days], I will simply give you the links to his ambitious project.

First, Holcombe has a web site with his own URL. That’s important especially in a world of real time search and especially in light ofGoogle Music search – you want your own URL to appear in search results so that your fans can respond to any calls to actions there, not your MySpace page.

You will notice when you land on Holcombe’s site that he is very clearly calling out his current project, one that he is funding through his Kickstarter site. This is where Holcombe’s 1000 True Fans can pledge money to help him reach his financial goal. He has also been very smart and created a Facebook fan page where he continues to further press his campaign. He has currently garnered 54% of his stated goal.

Ume Austin SXSW Pampelmoose

Meanwhile last week I received a great email from Lauren who fronts one of my favorite bands, Ume, [pronounced ooo-may] who are based in Austin. I met her and the band last year at SXSW and became a sort of advisor, sharing ideas with them whenever they felt that they’d hit a roadblock or perhaps had been offered a “deal that just sounds too good to be true.” Basically they’ve been out on the road as often as possible building a fan base and capitalizing on it. You’ll see from Lauren’s email below that they had the guts to turn down offers when ever they felt that it just wasn’t right for them.

“Hi Dave,

Hope you’re doing awesome and super excited to hang at SXSW! Reading your recent blogs, I wanted to give you a little update on us and hopefully [get] a little encouragement.

We had 5 record label offers this year and did not take one. While I was flattered by Joan Jett’s offer, it was a career crusher that claimed a piece of EVERYTHING and I continually heard your voice advising against it.

As you might know, our EP landed at #57 on WOXY‘s best of 09 list. Last night, as I skimmed this list I noticed every record ranked above us was released by a label. “See,” I said at first, “every band that’s breaking has a label.” But then I realized that our name made this list and we really are doing-it-ourselves!

We are trying to work outside the – sign me/book me/manage me/make me – box. What I’m finding difficult is that those inside this box don’t want to leave.

For example, we met several major booking agents this year, all of whom want to work with us “when we get a label.” The biggest influx of traffic we received was when there was a false rumor that Sub-Pop and Matador were in a bidding war for us. Magazines, publicists, the manager of MGMT, Atlantic Records, A&R guys, blogs, and lawyers – all contacted us within a week because of this made-up rumor about “the labels interested in Ume” circulating the internet. Ha!

The point is not that we “need” these people. We sold-out of the first pressing of the EP and played 70 out-of-town shows last year without a label or booking agent. The challenge – but not the barrier – is we still don’t have the financial means to record and we’re still averaging a $50-$100 pay-out at packed shows (while bands on these bills with agents/managers/labels are averaging $2,000). We almost went broke on this tour, but were sustainable because I had a line awaiting me at the merch table after shows.

Yet, our fan-base is still growing, we own everything we do, and we’re learning the importance of being patient. Oh, and we’ve written a lot of new music and now are just looking for ways to get it into ears…”

Although it’s clear that Ume have not been able to raise the money to make a new record yet, [Lauren, use Kickstarter...] they remain completely independent and in control of their career. The challenges they face come from the industry itself – agents who won’t book a band without a label, or a label that wants too much control of a band’s copyrights. Those folks are guilty of having their heads in the sand, not just when it comes to a great band like Ume, but because they are missing a chance to take a risk that may successfully change the way they do business in future. There will be many, many hard working bands coming up in the future, who have completely different mind sets and who have a real understanding of what works when it comes to getting their music into their fans hands. Who will be the right partners for these young musicians?

Meanwhile – The Music Industry’s Demographic Problem.

Dave Allen
  • I'm glad you stayed on this topic, Dave.

    First, as one of the commentors on the aforementioned SXSW Interview post, I just want to reiterate that I was not among the people looking for "specifics" or "tactics", but was looking to hear you speak more to the uniqueness of a Digital Strategy, and what separated the smart users from the ones who don't get it.

    Would it be innacurate to say that this is a concept that you/Fight see as a continuing work in progress?

    A large part of my original concern and curiosity is now amplified as a result of the Ume interview here. As you say yourself, it can be read two ways. Ume are either ahead of the curve, tirelessly laying the groundwork necessary to attract more attention than they have thus far... or they are simply rejecting a business model for their band that they know would generate more ROI because it is considered "old" and restricting.

    Its the perrenial question of the web era; does it make more sense to stay independent, or sign with a partner that has more resources? I really don't want to say that the smarter thing to do would be to just get a record deal. But still, after almost 10 years of waiting for the web to democratize music promotion and eliminate Label's gatekeeper status, there are STILL no examples of artists who have made it on their own and can compete with signed artists. And here we have an example of a really great independent band admitting as much (even if they prefer it that way, which is of course their prerogative).

    If this simple fact was not the reality, then I'm sure you would face far fewer grumpy musicians asking for more from you.

    So, thinking out loud here, I am going to say that I think the only "Digital Strategy" worth its salt is one that is able to maneuver an artist in front of booking agents, music directors, and other media folk with the SAME EFFECTIVENESS as other artists with label representation. This is the standard that we should aspire to, otherwise, whats the point? If Ume can't ever expect to compete with signed artists and that's their goal.....well...

    What I'm hearing you, and others, say is that 'We're not there yet, but we will be if we keep working on it.' I agree with that notion. BUT, if we are to stay energized about digital-strategies-for-indie-artists-as-an-alternative-to-traditional-means, then we need to see clearer signs of progress and hear clearer articulations from thinkers and doers like yourself about WHY and HOW this will work.

    Not, I hasten to add, what any given artist should do or what tactics to employ. I'm talking big picture. How will web/social-networking/mobile-music compete withe the traditional model, which is still top dog?

    Thats the question that generates critiques of your ideas.

    But hey, keep up the good work!
  • Justin,

    It's worth noting that as Lauren from Ume points out, they did just as well as any other band on the WOXY list whilst remaining unsigned, and also she notes that agents, labels etc are still in an old school mind set. And this is worth noting too - for an indie band signed to an indie label, achieving CD sales is just as difficult as for an unsigned band. I know of labels who can hardly achieve 1000 CD sales these days. In fact getting to that number is seen as a success. The royalties from a 1000 sales are not going to provide a living wage. Meanwhile Lauren sells out of her own CDs and keeps every $$ of profit. I argue she's better off.

    As for the record label biz being "top dog" as you say, I have to ask are you sure? If I look at the Billboard sales chart I note that Sade remains number 1, 3 weeks in a row even with declining sales each week. So baby boomers who buy say, 2 CDs a year, are keeping a small part of the record biz in $$s. I think Sade's 3rd week sales were around 138,000 units, which is not bad, but that means that whoever is at number 100 on the chart must have sold about 200 copies right?

    So when you ask of me "How will web/social-networking/mobile-music compete with the traditional model, which is still top dog?" I can only reply that the traditional model is on the brink of collapse and is an unsustainable business model. And I also would refer you back to Eno - “The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you’d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history’s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it.”

    The selling of recorded music will be replaced. I wrote about that here http://www.pampelmoose.com/2009/04/the-end-of-the-music-album-as-the-organizing-principle and I stick by it today, almost a year later. Younger generations of fans - the hypothetical 8 year old girl I often mention - will not be buying music via the old traditional models that we have been used to. As Rishad Tobaccowalla says "The future will not fit in the container of the past."

    So who evolves first, the labels or the musicians? I'd say it better be the latter.
  • Thanks for the reply, Dave. I think you've made a good point; regardless of the actions or strategies of Indie artists, the old model demonstrably continues to crumble. Perhaps that just makes it a matter of time.

    Whether its the labels or the musicians who adapt first, it still seems like the environment into which we are expected to accustom ourselves is full of unknowns. Perhaps this is why its not so easy to find the Clarity about digital strategizing that I keep talking about. Hm.

    For now, I'll go back to just trying to listen and scout this landscape.
  • jaycosnett
    You know you are preaching to the choir with me, Dave, but I still have to say,"Well done," and thank you for shining even more light on this.

    A couple of observations:

    The first is you have shown us two very different artists with--surprise--two different sets of tactics supporting their--surprise again--different strategies. But, of course, that shouldn't be surprising, at all. Would you hire a famous heavy metal producer for your band's next hard-bop jazz record? (Well, maybe, if you wanted to chart some new ground...) Musicians will spend weeks, months or years trying to find the guitar pedal that's "just right" for them and their music, but they expect a complete marketing strategy (that will work for them) in a box from Target for $29.99? The thing is, even if marketing and business aren't your chosen art-forms, they *are* art-forms, in so far as they only really work when really talented people work really hard to craft a completely unique and custom-made approach, and not always even then. Musicians hire people (or barter, or get friends to help for free, or do it themselves) to do their lights, sound, production, tech, booking, recording, repair their instruments, fix their van and everything else. Anyone coming to you claiming they will "take care of everything," you'd better ask, "Yeah, for how much?" Ume is spot on. And brave to not believe the too good to be true stories.

    The second is that I have found that this stuff is usually both a lot simpler and a lot more complicated than people treat it. The fundamental outline is bone-head simple: What have you got? Who wants it? How would they like to get it? How can you get it to them? How can you get them to want more and tell their friends? All in a way that brings in more than it costs you? So many fancy-schmancy agency/marketing types either forget the basics or think they can know the answers to these questions without actually asking them. That's why I love what you say about "the big idea." It's like trying to figure out the right bass part for a song--does a good player go away for 4 weeks, then come back and play the songwriter "the ultimate bass part ever," only to have them go, "Uh, thanks, but, uh, no?" Or do they try this, try that, see what works, ditch what didn't, woodshed a bit, try some more, take the drummer's crazy ass idea and combine it with something they heard in a dream until--after more hard work--they have a part that makes the song come together like magic?

    THAT is the complicated part--answering the questions, making sure you're asking the right ones, of the right people, that you're getting answers that are accurate, that give you information you can act on, and then acting on that information in such a way that enables you to change course when the answers change (which they always will) and especially when the questions you need to ask change (which they always should). Continuing with the musical metaphor, that's what I think your iterative approach can provide--a method for trying this, trying that and fiddling until you get something that works. And after you've taken the song out on tour for a while, that bass part will get tweaked and refined some more, and you'll probably be able to play it a lot better, too!

    It does take patience and an attention span that some bands (and, sadly, a lot of marketers) don't have. And some times the first thing that pops into your head is brilliant just the way it is. But if it's not, what then? I think your underlying point remains, which is, for today's music/art/entertainment industry, what choice do artists (and most other kinds of businesses) really have?

    If there even are other options, as in Ume's case, they usually aren't very good ones.

    Thanks for having the patience to keep pointing that out.
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